Interview with Professor Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar: Qatar and the Middle East

Abstract

In recent years, Qatar has had a significant role in conflicts and peace negotiations around the world. This interview with Professor Kamrava examines reasons for this and explores the emerging foreign policy under new emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Situations in other Middle East countries are explored including prospects for a resolution to the Syrian Civil War, Iran’s new foreign policy under President Rouhani, as well as Saudi Arabia’s reaction to it. The interview concludes with an analysis of China’s involvement in Africa and the Middle East.

Keywords:

• Qatar
• Iran
• Middle East
• Saudi Arabia
• terrorism
• economic development

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dimitri Neos

Mehran Kamrava is Professor and Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Professor Kamrava holds a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of a number of journal articles and books, including, most recently, Qatar: Small State, Big Politics, The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War, 3rd ed., and Iran’s Intellectual Revolution. His edited books include The International Politics of the Persian Gulf, Innovation in Islam: Traditions and Contributions, The Political Economy of the Persian Gulf, and The Nuclear Question in the Middle East.